The Kennebec Journal is running an article discussing a committee of Maine legislators tasked with the problem of how the state should manage sex offenders. From the article:
Victims of sex crimes and the offenders often live in the same home, where the crimes also occur. That was part of the message brought by Kurt Bumby, senior manager of the Center for Sex Offender Management, to a committee of legislators wrestling with the problem of how to manage sex offenders and increase public safety.
"Being grabbed in an alleyway sometimes happens, but those are the exceptions," Bumby said. "Strangers tend to be the exception."
The Committee on Criminal Justice & Public Safety met Monday at the Department of Public Safety offices in Augusta for a briefing on the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act.
In the second of three informational meetings, the panel heard from Bumby as well as from officials in four other states where policymakers have grappled with similar issues.
"We either reinvent the wheel or take a day and bring in the experts," Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, said. "This should enhance the effectiveness of what we're trying to do."
Sen. Earle McCormick, R-West Gardiner, said he was looking for information on how the state's sex offender registry can be more effectively administered.
"If we have a three-tier system, how do we figure who are the high risks?" McCormick asked.
Bumby told committee members that sex offenses are a small percentage of all crimes committed, but get a disproportionate amount of publicity.
He said research shows that those more likely to reoffend are those who rape adult women and those who victimize boys outside the family.
"Depending on whom they target, recidivism rates vary," Bumby said. "Sex offenders are not all alike."
It sounds like Maine is asking a lot of the right questions. It will be interesting to see the process yields sane policy results.
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